


I don’t have a name for this yet

by World_Ender



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Childhood Trauma, Developing Friendships, Gen, Medieval, Trauma, a few curse words, background people - Freeform, devolution, smpearth - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:41:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26922298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/World_Ender/pseuds/World_Ender
Summary: “How long has it been?”He was hesitant with his answer, for he did not know how to tell it to the... person in front of him.The person stepped over briskly, took him by the arms and shook him wildly, “TELL ME!” He shouted aggressively.He was taken aback, but brushed his hands off aggressively. He sighed, having no other way to say it.“100 years.”
Comments: 54
Kudos: 319





	1. In The Heart of the Tundra

Orange and yellow flames licked at the dark, sodden wood as several pieces of chopped logs were thrown into the fireplace to produce heat and light. However, with the wood being soaked, it didn’t provide much heat as the wood had to dry first, but it did provide light as a hooded individual closed the iron grates that blocked the fire from the flammable objects around it. The hooded individual walked towards a desk, provided with an open book, an ink bottle, and a quill from the feather of a bird. The feather of the bird, with each hair follicle, was slowly falling apart where the individual had grabbed onto it to write a letter, an entry, a treaty, or perhaps even a drawing.

The individual looked at the quill, softly held in their hand and brushed their thumb along the top. It felt smooth and light… something that they missed to feel.

Memories of children singing and laughing, the sounds of marketplaces being overwhelmingly loud due to marketers shouting their products to entice people to sell them their money, horses and their hooves clopping on cobblestone and dirt paths across countrysides and main streets to travel where they had previously traveled or not, the sound of seagulls as they screamed above high populated areas and sea shores--

“Mom?”

The hooded individual snapped from their memories and flinched to hear the sound of a high-pitched voice from behind them. It was quiet, and it vibrated as they spoke that only word. The individual sighed and pulled down their hood. A caucasian woman with brunette hair pulled back into a long braid looked back to see who the high pitched voice belonged to. Her soft hazel eyes looked down behind a red suede sofa to see a small kid-- a boy-- wrapped up in a light, lime green blanket.

The boy, who was also caucasian, had dirty blonde hair; it had licks of hair sticking up from the position he was probably sleeping in bed. Dark freckles littered across his face underneath his eyes and across the bridge of his nose; several types of bandages also covered his face, one plastered across his right cheek. Emerald green eyes looked up, confused and innocent as they stared at the woman.

“Dream? What are you doing up so late?” The woman asked softly, though, she had already known the answer to her question as she saw his figure shaking underneath the blanket he held so dear to him.

“I’m… cold…” He shuddered in between breaths. His breaths could be seen as fog as it billowed out of his mouth and then dissipated in a few seconds.

“And hungry…” Two other voices said in unison as they revealed themselves behind Dream. One of them held a red blanket, and the other held a sky blue blanket. Both of them were boys.

The sky blue blanket boy was also caucasian, but much more lighter toned than Dream. He had brunette hair, the same as the woman, but it was swished to the side which made him look like he had bangs that stuck to his forehead. He had no freckles, but the thing that did distinguish him was the heterochromatic eyes he sported. The right was baby blue, while the left was chocolate brown.

The red blanket boy was much darker toned, similar to a honey color, and had a mop of black hair that covered bits and pieces of his obsidian-colored eyes. Two curved ears popped up out of the mop of hair, one white and one black and flicked around independently. This boy was interesting in himself… yet he didn’t know that he was special.

The woman felt a pang of guilt and of motherly pain swath her heart as she stood by the desk. She looked over to the fireplace, the wood had dried up some, but not enough to provide enough heat for the kids. With their hunger issue… they knew the rules… they only had to eat one meal per day to keep the food storage at its best for them and their people. If she had given them more than one meal, her people would call her self-absorbed and selfish… and then the food supply would run low… and then all of them would be in danger of starvation.

“Mom?”

She looked behind her shoulder to the desk with the open book, grabbed the book and looked to the boys again, who had called her name again but with no response back. Dream tilted his head slightly to the left, his eyes suddenly trained on the book. The honey toned boy’s interesting ears moved forward and he fluttered his eyes. The heterochromatic-eyed boy raised an eyebrow, confused.

“Mom, what’s that you’re holding?” Dream asked. He pointed a finger at the book, but immediately regretted it as his blanket fell off of his shoulder and partially onto the other side of his shoulder. He quickly grabbed onto an edge and threw it back onto the exposed shoulder even though it really didn’t help. 

“It’s a book, contained with it a story of an urban legend passed down from royalty to royalty of an empire that purged our nation to an eternal tundra wasteland.” Dream’s mother spoke lowly, but loud enough for the three kids to hear. Their eyes lit up in curiosity and excitement.

“An urban legend?!” The heterochromatic-eyed kid looked at the honey-toned boy and Dream as his eyes sparkled.

“An empire?!” The honey toned boy squealed.

“Passed down from royalty to royalty…?” Dream questioned, a little excited but more so concerned and confused. He looked at his mother, “Mom, what do you mean by ‘passed down’? Do you mean that… our kingdom’s been like this for… for… uhhh… what’s longer than years?” He asked his mother quickly.

“Decades.” She answered grimly.

“So you mean our kingdom’s been like this for decades?” He asked, his voice cracked a little from the realization and concern. The two other boys stopped their frantic jumping and squealing and looked at their mother. They felt Dream’s aura completely change and they looked at her with slight fear in their eyes.

“Centuries… in fact.” His mother looked away from the kids and she sat down on the red suede sofa. She opened the book and flipped through the pages to the beginning as the three kids slowly shuffled to the sofa in front of the fireplace and settled down beside their mother.

The pages slowly but surely became yellow and wrinkled by the age of which these were written in, which the mother delicately flipped through, until she stopped at the first entry of the leather book. It was titled neatly, but with menace and fear behind it: The Antarctic Empire.

She stared at the title for a moment, then her eyes moved to the author or the writer of the one who made the first entry. It was faded, and parts of it were blotched, an indication that something had happened while the entry was being written firsthand. Dream and the other two leaned in to see the entry and gawked at the fancy title with their eyes, but they didn’t say a word as they waited for their mother to speak.

The mother took a deep breath and looked down at the paragraph, “The Antarctic Empire has well been established on the highest peak of Antarctica, with snow cascading down the gargantuan mountain. A thick blanket of ice is hidden underneath all the mounds of snow and once did ever slip. It’s only when you climb the sides of the mountain do you get a taste of ice firsthand. I remember an old friend of mine climbed up the hill singlehandedly, but slipped down and found an ice slide to get from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain faster than you could say lickety-split. Though, at the very very peak of the mountain lays two large smoldering chutes, chugging their smoke into the cold air and dissipating almost immediately. A light source shoots up into the sky, parting any passing clouds into smaller pieces of clouds, but it seems off-centered from the moment I stepped onto the tundra with my men by my side.”

“It was a long trek from North America to Antarctica, and with the travel up the sides of the mountain we were extremely weary and pained… until we saw the group who had taken the stronghold by force.”

The mother paused and flipped the page over onto the next paragraph of the entry. Dream and the two kids blinked and looked up at her, wondering why she paused.

She trailed down to the bottom of the page, where she saw the lists of names that inhabited the Antarctic Empire, and didn’t speak a word. She closed the book and took a deep breath, “How about I tell you a different story?”

The honey toned boy whined, “What? No fair!”

The heterochromatic eyed boy continued, “We want to know what happens next!”

Dream didn’t speak, he only looked up at his mother and saw the sorrow in her eyes. He looked to the two and glared at them, his nose scrunched up. With that indication in mind, the two boys shut themselves up.

“Sure, mom.” He only spoke and relaxed into the sofa. The other two boys relaxed on the other side of the sofa and cuddled around each other for warmth.

The mother smiled softly to her three boys before she opened her lips to tell a tale of a before time.


	2. Years Have Passed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> every time I look on here I see more and more kudos and hits, I'm just like "please it's only one chapter regjmdhwsjan thE CLOUT--"
> 
> but in all seriousness, I really appreciate ya'll liking this!
> 
> hope you enjoy this chapter! :))

Darkness swarmed the vision of an unknown. They could not see anything, but only hear and feel. The sound of beats going in intervals of three as the air whispered aggressively in their ears. They could count off the intervals in their head, ‘One-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three.’

A snort of forced air caused the darkness to go away, as the person opened their eyes and looked down to their steed as he raced across the tundra. He bucked his head wildly and his ears slowly pinned back to his cranium. The person suddenly patted the side of the steed’s neck gently, “You’re okay Spirit, you’re alright. Just focus on my voice, bud.”

“Dream, are you talking to your horse again?” A deep voice roared through the aggressive wind to the left side. Dream looked over briefly to see a honey-toned man racing next to him on a donkey. The man wore black and white clothing with a stitched-on fire symbol in the middle of his white shirt; he also had a white bandana lashing around in the wind as he raced across the tundra. 

Dream merely rolled his eyes with a smile that spread across his face, “You’re just jealous that Spirit is much better than your jackass.”

“Hey!” The honey-toned man shouted and pointed a finger at him, “My jackass is wonderful! We’ll show you!” 

“Weren’t we showing off in the first place?” Another voice, with a British lace and somewhat deep in tone, questioned.

Dream looked over to the other side and looked to see another man, much paler in tone than the honey-toned man, racing alongside on a black and white Appaloosa. He had black and white glasses that covered his eyes and the wind blew his hair in every direction from the position he was facing the two.

“Alright,” Dream spoke, “last one to Floating Slopes… uhhh…” He paused, trying to think something up on the fly, then an idea popped in his head, “Last one to Floating Slopes, between you two,” he pointed to the two on either side of him, “gets to train with me for a month and get tips from me on combat.”

The two blinked, their eyes widened for a moment, obviously expecting something cliche like “chores for a week” or “mucking out the stables” or “explaining why they were out on the tundra at almost sun high to their mother”. Though, the surprise changed to sudden competition and mockery.

“Oh this’ll be easy.” The honey-toned man emphasized as he straightened his back and gave the man on the other side a cocky smile.

“I doubt that since you’re going to be eating my flurries, Sapnap.” The man on the other side spoke back with as much cockiness as Sapnap. He even gave Sapnap his own award-winning smile.

“Nah, I think that’s gonna be you, George.” Sapnap clarified.

As the two bickered, Dream slowly stopped to a halt, claiming where he stood to be the starting line. The two saw him slowly stop and they did the same thing; however, they had to move back exactly to where he was due to them getting heated in the moment with their bickering.

“I’ll meet you up there at the top, just be fair and reasonable or I’ll call the entire thing off.” Dream threatened, remembering the numerous times that when Sapnap and George raced together to a location, one of them tried to lie and say that they won. Or one of them used weapons to slow the other down even though it wasn’t permitted to use weapons while in a standard race such as this. This resulted in many fights, both verbal and physical. Usually Dream had to be the one to step in like he was the father figure, even though they’re all brothers. The two nodded and readied themselves up. 

“On your mark…” Dream started, “Get set… Go!”

The two spurred their horses-- well in Sapnap’s case, his donkey-- and raced across the blanket of snow. Dream clicked his tongue for Spirit to follow after them, but at a walk so he could regain some energy from him running for several miles across the stretch.

Dream closed his eyes once more, trying to remember the story that their mother told them on that fateful night. It was unforgettable, considering the firewood his mother put in the fireplace did nothing to warm him and Sapnap and George found comfort in themselves to cuddle each other for warmth. Not to mention the rumbling in his stomach… but other than the things he did complain about, it almost seemed as if the story took away those complications.

...

_"The sun shined down on the hills of green, as birds and bugs of many varieties flourished underneath the warm rays of the sun. Flowers of every color imaginable bloomed, either in baskets made by people, in gardens, or in wild fields. You could roll in the riches and feel the warmth as you did so… animals of every variety wandered wherever they wandered; however, you had to be wary which animal you saw. Some could be hostile, while others docile… maybe even neutral until provoked. When it came to water you could see the vast expanses of oceans and large lakes, from meters away you could hear roaring rivers carry away whatever had been grasped. Waterfalls also made a lot of sound, deafening where you couldn’t hear the person even if they were in front of you.”_

_“How come we don’t have that now?”_

_“I’m not sure, sweetie, but despite the winter having its downsides. It also has its upsides.”_

_“Not a lot if you ask me…”_

_“Food and energy wise, no. But scenery and possibly tactics, yes.”_

_“Tactics? Like what?”_

_“Camouflage.”_

_“Mom, I don’t think any of us are able to camouflage well even if we had the right stuff. We stick out like sore thumbs in an expansive stretch!”_

_“There are other things, Sapnap, that can be addressed, but I’d rather let you three understand winter for yourselves.”_

_“Well, so far, it sucks.”_

...

Dream opened his eyes once more and found himself edging closer towards Floating Slopes. Floating Slopes was named so because of the ice that jutted out of the large slope, if you were close to it, but far enough to not see the connection, you could almost think they were floating. However, they were considered dangerous anything or anyone that climbed or jumped down from, for a thick sheet of ice is underneath the thin layer of snow. One mishap and everything could go terribly wrong.

He exhaled deeply, “Well, might as well pick up the pace. They’re probably already waiting for me at the top.” He clicked his tongue again, this time twice, and Spirit went off at a canter.

By the time he had reached the foot of Floating Slopes, he saw that the two had let their horse and donkey at the bottom as well… but he could hear nothing… strange. Normally, and obviously, he would be hearing them fighting again. Both of them screaming at the top of their lungs maybe (in that case, Sapnap would be the King of Screaming), but nonetheless fighting. He left Spirit at the base of the slope and climbed up the sturdy, “floating” ice sheets. 

As soon as he reached the top, with him slightly breathing to regain his stamina, he saw Sapnap standing in front of him with an energetic smile. Meanwhile, George was to the side-- far behind Sapnap-- and pouting with his hands crossed over his chest and avoiding direct contact from the two from the indication of his head being tilted to the right.

“So Sapnap won?” Dream wondered about the verdict of the race.

“Yup! Fair and square, just like you said!” Sapnap exclaimed, his smile still set in place. George only pouted even further from the corner of Dream’s peripheral vision, an indication that Sapnap was lying.

“Cut to the chase, tell me the truth. Don’t sugarcoat it.” Dream spoke bluntly, he crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot on the snow.

Sapnap’s face told it all as soon as Dream said those words. Even his voice told it all, “What?! I am telling you the truth! There’s nothing to sugarcoat because it’s the truth!” He complained.

“Then why is George pouting like that?” Dream pointed a finger at George, of which Sapnap whipped around to look at him.

He waved him off dramatically and turned back to Dream, “That’s just because he’s a sore loser, unlike me--”

“That’s a lie.” George mumbled underneath his breath for his first input, but it was loud enough for the two to hear.

“ _Shut up_ , George.” Sapnap spoke through gritted teeth. 

“Make me.” George countered, a little aggressive. Sapnap whipped over to him again and, this time, sprinting over to him and tackling him to the ground. George screamed in surprise by the tackle, but the two had begun to wrestle again. They landed hits on each other whenever they had the opportunity.

Dream stood and stared at them, his energy whittling away by the moment he continued to stare at them. He clearly was not in the mood to deal with them.

The sound of a bugle horn.

Dream froze, before he turned his whole body around to the sound. Sapnap and George stopped their wrestling, scrambled up from the snow, ran and stood beside Dream on the edge of Floating Slopes.

A soldier, clad in iron, raced across the slope on a black steed towards the three boys.

Mother knew.


	3. The Library

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slides in  
> hi! it's been a while! sorry that i haven't been updating, i've been dealing with mental health issues, stress, burnouts, and demotivation that it took me this long to write 5 1/2 pages of the Chapter 3.  
> I hope ya'll enjoy it!

The wind rushed through Dream’s ears and the cold air pushed the hot breath out of his lungs, which caused him to try and breathe normally, but to no avail. He raced across the tundra on Spirit, following Mother’s messenger who rode on the black steed as they were meters away from him. George and Sapnap followed after as well on their rides, their faces grim and filled with a mix of concern, worry, and fear. Dream felt the same way, but he didn’t show a trace of it on his face; his heavy and harsh breaths indicated his recent emotions.

‘How long were we out?’ Dream thought as he looked up at the sky, trying to find a light source, or even an indication of what time it was. However, it was just grey clouds with a mix of black and blue. He swallowed his spit hard, only to choke on it immediately. He hacked up his lungs, which had already lost oxygen from the cold air, to the point where he couldn’t even get a single breath in. He hunched over onto Spirit and laid his head on his steed’s withers as he tried to breathe, he clutched onto the reins tightly, but didn’t pull back on them. He closed his eyes tightly, feeling his eyes water.

He felt a warm hand grace itself over his back-- somewhere around the middle where the fingers locked with his spinal cord like a puzzle piece-- and he snapped his head over onto the left to find Sapnap racing alongside him with a worried face. He felt another hand touch his back, much higher than Sapnap’s and looked on the other side to find George with an awkward, but equally worried look on his face. Dream raised his head up and motioned for the two to relax and go back to their positions. With hesitance, they did as they were told.

They continued to follow Mother’s messenger, who seemed even farther up from the last time Dream had lost his gaze on them, until Dream noticed the line of snow capped mountains and the entrance of the valley that was the entrance and exit point of their home. The messenger began to slow down, in which the distance point between Sapnap, Dream, and George lessened exponentially until they, too, had to slow down completely so they wouldn’t crash. They slowed their horses down to a walk, in which they could hear the heavy snorting and breathing coming from them, and went through the valley in betwixt the two mountains.

The conversion of snow to dirt never surprised Dream in the slightest, as it was a little dip from the levels of snow that lowered down onto earth, but Dream had noticed and jumped a little in his saddle. He quickly looked down to find the group on the dirt path that led towards the city limits and inhaled sharply to try and relax himself. 

He was too worried.

As they walked through the valley entrance, Dream glanced over to families opening their doors and windows to see the group of three being led by the messenger, whom they probably saw galloping to try and find them. He saw the contours of their dirtied and pale faces mixed perfectly with their hollow and exhausted eyes. Men and women, young and old looked or walked outside of their homes to watch them pass by. His heart felt heavy and he felt spurts of guilt attack him every time he saw kids outside playing but then immediately stop what they were doing to look at him and the rest.

These were his people.

And yet he was already failing them.

They continued to walk through the countryside, seeing small cottages and stone homes clustered together in small communities along the waysides, small chimneys chugging smoke out of their thin necks from the belly of their large bodies. None of the people along the waysides came out of their homes to look at the group, yet Dream could feel it as he now looked blindly in front of him.

Stone walls.

A castle.

It looked like they almost touched the clouds…

Is this what the commoners always saw when they looked at the castle in its reverent beauty?

“Your mother is in the infirmary.”

Dream snapped awake and found himself in the middle of market square inside of the stone walls. He was still on his horse, as was Sapnap and George, but they stopped in front of the castle and the giant wooden door with it’s iron framework. The messenger was looking behind their shoulder and staring at them, a signal to dismount. Dream nodded curtly and dismounted off of Spirit, Sapnap and George did the same. Immediately, three maids rushed over from… god knows where and took their horses-- and donkey-- to the stables on the far left.

The three stepped up to the castle’s wooden door, where two guards clad in iron armor, swords, and shields stood on either side. Dream couldn’t see their faces, as they were covered by the helmets, but he noticed the slight shift of their heads to look at him and then back at each other. They hesitated, then moved in the awkward silence to the edges of the front of the door. They turned their backs to the group and pushed open the doors to the foyer of the castle.

It was empty, something that the three were accustomed with, only consisting of a red suede carpet that made paths all along the castle’s interior, a bronze chandelier with lit candles, and two staircases-- one on the left and one on the right-- with wooden balustrades guiding the stairs away from each other into different sectors of rooms and hallways.

Dream didn’t take a second before he pushed himself inside and headed to the left staircase; he didn’t hear George say his name to him as his hearing gave out. He stepped on the first step, then the second, then the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, the sixth, seventh, eighth. He gripped onto the smooth railing as he trudged up towards the infirmary while staring at the stairs in front of him; overwhelmed, underprepared, and guilty.

The last step transitioned itself to a dark and empty hallway. The curtains had closed off the light, as there was none due to the sky becoming a dark, cool color, and no one had bothered to light the candles that rested on small, wooden tables in brass candleholders. The silence was unbearable.

At the end of the hallway laid the infirmary, with dark oak doors closed in a menacing tone.

Dream walked over.

He stopped. Hesitant.

He pushed the doors open.

Bits and pieces of dancing lights flickered about as maids and nurses rushed about in the infirmary, taking care of only one patient the best they could: the trio’s mother.

Even in the partial light and from where he stood, Dream could see that she was in terrible shape… terrible shape than before. She rested in the middle bed of the six beds that this infirmary offered, she had a cloth placed on her forehead as her eyes weakly scrambled about… looking at her servants try and save her from her sickness but to no avail having the resources they need to cure her easily.

At least that’s what they thought.

Dream knew from his gut that this sickness was something pretending to be a sickness that was known and can be cured easily.

He knew that it was something new and uncharted.

And it was killing his mother inside-out.

“Dream?”

He snapped back into reality again to hear his mother’s voice. It was quiet, wispy, and croaky, yet Dream could hear it from where he was standing. He walked over to her, leaned down on one knee and placed both of his hands on top and on the bottom of his mother’s. Her hair was still a brunette color, but strands of grey poked out like a sore thumb, and her hazel eyes were more of a dull brown as the green had lost its color. Her skin was sickly pale.

“I’m here.” He merely spoke, a little quiet while the nurses continued to walk in and out of the infirmary around the castle. 

“Didn’t I tell you and your brothers to stay here in the castle since my illness came?” She scolded, her eyebrows furrowed and her face scrunched up.

“Yes, you did.” Dream responded.

“And yet you still didn’t heed it, as you were miles away from the castle, racing on those damned horses that you got.” She hissed. She coughed at the last word and pulled her head away from Dream’s so he wouldn’t get the sickness either.

“I’m sorry, Mother.”

 _‘It won’t happen again.’_ Was what he wished he could say.

After she had finished her bouts of coughing, she turned back to her son and leaned forward a little from her bed. She extended her empty hand not occupied by the gripping of Dream’s and brushed his hair. Her fingertips traced his forehead until she scratched at wood.

“Where’s Sapnap and George?” She asked, her voice entirely croaky and raspy.

“Probably outside of the infirmary doors or standing by the doors…” Dream answered.

“Why are they?”

“Because of many reasons.”

“What are those reasons?”

“Mother, don’t be ignorant.” He spoke curtly.

“Still, the least they could do is stand and say goodbye.” She huffed.

“Let them be, at least I’m here. It’s better than no one.” Dream hissed, becoming aggressive from his mother’s inconsiderate request. 

She exhaled sharply before her eyes became soft and she looked away at her son, “I believe it’s time for you three to understand.”

Dream blinked, confused, “What do you mean?”

“Don’t you remember that story I told you?” She muttered, her eyes snapped back to her son’s, but she didn’t move her head.

“Yes, but what does that have to do with the three of us ‘understanding’?” Dream asked.

His mother answered vaguely, “Go to the Athenaeum, where the ice hangs in lines. Thick and thin. There will be the journal, and several others, explaining the ice. Where you must find the source of the ice. If the ice hits the floor…” She stopped as her bouts of coughing became more ragged and savage, Dream leaned in worriedly, but his mother pushed him away with her empty hand as skin touched wood.

Several nurses ushered him out forcefully as other nurses rushed to his mother’s aid with whatever they found that could be a sort of remedy to her condition.

He heard her gasp aggressively

“WE’RE ALL DOOMED!”

Her scream, blood-curdled and filled with fear.

It caused his ice to run cold, followed with goosebumps traveling like wildfire along his skin.

He froze like a statue.

The door shut in front of his face and he exhaled deeply.

He blinked and placed his hands to his face, only to touch the wood that covered it.

“Dream? What happened?”

A hand touched the middle of his back, but he whipped his head around.

George and Sapnap.

“We need to go to the Athenaeum.”


	4. Where Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI SORRY IM ALIVE a lot of stuff has been happening to me and that's why it took me so long to write this story and publish it.  
> But I hope you enjoy it! :))

Dream, Sapnap, and George ran away from the Infirmary, as nurses and doctors tried to tend to their sick mother from her last breaths casted on this miserable and horrible Earth. The three slid down the balustrade and sprinted to the other side of the castle, where three steps, a wooden door with iron castings, a cold, dark, and cobblestone-filled hallway led into the Athenaeum.

The Athenaeum was an expansive room, seventy feet by seventy feet. It was extremely cold--as Dream could see Sapnap’s and George’s breath-- and the atmosphere was a slate grey from the large room and the lack of natural light. George looked over to the right of him to see a candlestick with a candle holder and a box of matches, he grabbed the box of matches and slid it upwards, only to find one last match in the box. Of course, they should’ve expected this to happen, due to the extreme shortage of supplies. George sighed in exasperation and looked at the two for confirmation to use the last one.

Dream and Sapnap looked at each other, before the both nodded, and George picked the small stick out from the box, turned the box over to where the grates were to light the match, lit the match, placed the fire over the candle, and blew the match out. He grabbed the candle holder and offered it to Sapnap sheepishly, where the man looked at him and gave him a death look before he begrudgingly took it.

As the small light and its levels swallowed some of the slate grey atmosphere, they could see bookshelves, taller than them but an unknown height, tower above them in a menacing fashion. They lined each other vertically with a space in between each vertical line. The three forgot how overwhelming this all was from the moment they stepped into this room as kids to try and steal the journal that their mother had stashed away in the far corner of the Athenaeum. 

…

_Night had rested easy without any blizzards or extremely cold temperatures where people froze to death in their sleep. Their mother had gone to sleep early, and in doing so, she also put them to sleep early as well._

_Though, they had other plans._

_From the day that their mother had spoken of an entry about the Antarctic Empire to them, only to stop, they were curious as cats. Even Dream could admit it to himself, but not admit it publicly to Sapnap or George. From the night that they rested around their mother and fell asleep after their mother told more stories about this mythical place of greenery, warmth, and sun, George and Sapnap had immediately woken up to grab the journal. Their mother had placed it back onto the desk where it originally rested before being picked up._

_Dream watched from the sidelines with a slightly open eye in his sleepy state, what he could remember from it was the two falling, causing a ruckus, waking up Mother again and getting themselves in trouble. In which they blamed each other for it even though they both were in cahoots and somehow managed to work together as a team… for however long they lasted._

_Mother had grabbed the journal and took it somewhere else for safekeeping the first time: in her bedroom. George strolled into Mother’s room, even though Mother warned them from the moment they were able to understand body language and words to not enter her room or there will be consequences, not really caring about the rule anymore._

_That didn’t end well…_

_So, Mother hid it another time: in the Athenaeum._

_Dream eavesdropped on her from two bookshelves away and remembered every vivid detail of where she stepped on the ladder, reached for the highest shelf that she could reach, placed the book in between a royal green and a cerulean blue book. Dream, when she had placed the book, took off in a head start to make sure that she didn’t see him. His quiet, bare feet touched cold stone as he rushed sneakily towards the exit. He opened the door ajar, though winced when it creaked, and slipped through quickly. He shut it behind him as carefully as he could and then ran to his conjoined bedroom with his brothers, jumped into bed, and pretended he was asleep._

_Moments later, the door opened. Dream could not see as he had his eyes closed, but he knew it was Mother. He steadied his breathing to fake himself sleeping…_

_Moments passed._

_Then, the door shut._

_Now, it was several weeks into the Present, where the three pretended and lied to their Mother about the journal. Dream had told the two about where Mother had placed it and told them to pretend to not remember it so they could psyche her out. The two agreed since their plans had failed, and went onto the weeks lying to their Mother about the journal and its location._

_Until this night._

_The door to the Athenaeum opened ajar and slowly moved on its own until Dream, Sapnap, and George huddled in a pile of three in front of the dark library. The darkness swallowed the entire library, they could barely even see what was in front of them…_

_“Is there a candle beside it?” Sapnap asked nervously._

_“Beside it?” Dream asked, confused._

_“The door, I came in here many times and I always see a candle on a candle holder with a box of matches.” Sapnap explained, a quiver laced with his voice._

_Dream snaked into the darkness, where his eyes adjusted slightly to the low light levels, and looked over to the right. Sure enough, there was a candle in a candle holder, with a box of matches. Dream popped his head out of the darkness into the doorframe and gave them a thumbs up. He went back into the darkness to light the candle, which provided a warm, orange-ish glow, and stepped out into the darkness with the light. Sapnap’s body visibly relaxed and his eyes softened, George whipped to the left so Sapnap would stop breathing on him and walked over to Dream._

_The three followed Dream, as he was the one who had the light, and he knew the way to where the journal was tucked away._

…

“So where to?” A voice laced with British sounded behind Dream as his memory was broken by reality.

“Where else?” Dream huffed exasperatingly and walked to the place where he was haunted. Sapnap took the lead as he had the lit candle in his hand.

…

_The three passed through daunting bookshelves, cobwebs strewn on the ground and in between books and empty parts of shelves, and sometimes an occasional mouse or rat._

_‘I should probably get on that.’ Dream thought to himself, as he was the only one able to find a rat or a mouse and either capture it using a rusty, metal bucket, or kill it using a sword. Many times did he get bitten by both of them on his bare feet when he stepped on their tails to stop them in their tracks. Not once did he learn, for some reason._

_It was then that he felt a chill run up his spine, goosebumps formed on his skin with his hairs standing up and all. There was also a voice that beckoned him._

_It sounded like laughing._

_Of an older man._

_He pressed on, with quicker and more determined steps. Sapnap and George noticed his pace change and they looked at each other confusingly before they followed as quickly as they could._

_Again, Dream could hear the voice, and the chill continued to wrack his body._

_It was two voices this time, one higher pitched than the other._

_They were in conversation._

_It was… muffled, but he could hear the pitches and tones of their voices as clear as day._

_He began to jog._

_Then he ran…_

_Then he went at a full sprint._

_Dream could hear Sapnap and George call out for his name as their footsteps and voices were drowned out in the sea of voices and the wind blowing through his ears. He didn’t even realize that the candle went out due to him running._

_The stone underneath his feet became unbearably cold, where he felt the own pulse of his feet pound._

_His lungs screamed for air as the cold air sucked the hot air out of his body._

_He could see his own breath as he sprinted before the mass of darkness that invaded him._

_The cold air and atmosphere sucked the heat out of his body, he could feel himself becoming numb._

_Then he slipped on ice and plummeted to the ground._

_He slid on the ground for a few feet, until his body came to a halt._

_He stood up from his position, his head pounding from the impact._

_Then he saw it as his eyes adjusted once more to the darkness._

_Thick, large icicles hung from the ceiling of the large room. They stood still like cemented statues, and they had no shine to it due to it being dark. Though, in Dream’s point-of-view, they were glistening. Shining…_

_Memories flashed through the icicles with several unrecognizable voices as they melded together in a warbled symphony of an unorganized orchestra. Dream looked at the memories like a baby seeing the sun for the first time._

_He stepped toward the icicles._

_Hand extended._

_Then everything went dark._

_The last thing he could feel was his left hand going numb._

_The last thing he could hear was Sapnap and George yelling for his name._

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> monkaS


	5. Come to Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains themes of Ableism! If you're uncomfortable, then you don't have to read this chapter, I will possibly writing another one tomorrow :))

_“Dream? Dream! Dream, please wake up!”_

_Tears puddled on Dream’s face as George huddled around his crumpled brother and held onto his head and upper torso with his small, feeble, and shaking hands. Filled with grief, fear, and confusion, George continued to call out for Dream… hoping… wishing that he’d somehow be okay._

_All he saw, when he had finally caught up to Dream, who had suddenly sprinted down the hall further into the Athenaeum, he was on the ground with his left arm and the left side of his face were a deep red and blue… frostbitten… Their Mother warned that if they stayed out in the winters too long, this would happen… He was unconscious, barely breathing and barely moving._

_George-- with no hesitation-- sprinted over to his brother, grappled onto his limp body, and began to cry for help and for his name. Sapnap, who was also with George, also shouted out for Dream’s name, but abandoned the hope that he would respond and ran out of the Athenaeum to awaken their Mother. He left the candle beside Dream and George to provide the pale kid light, even though he was afraid of the dark._

_The two children, one conscious and the other unconscious, became instilled in the darkness and the overwhelming fear of the Athenaeum, George clutched onto his brother tightly to avoid the imaginable shadowed figures that stood over him, protecting both himself and Dream. He, as he clutched onto Dream, softly touched his cheek with his brothers and, in an instant, felt the frostbite creep onto his own skin. He yelped in pain and reeled back from his brother’s touch, he quickly tried to put his right hand over his cheek, but halted himself from doing so, and let his hand fall to the ground._

_“D-Dream,” he hiccuped through his sobs of fear, pain, and confusion, “I- I know you can hear me. So please… why are you not responding?!” He screamed. His scream echoed throughout the cavernous room, bouncing through the bookshelves and the books._

_Then, something glittered and gave off a light out of the corner of his eye._

_He heard voices, of differing shifts and tones spoke in a whisper._

_George looked up to the direction of the light, the glitter, and the voices, shock had entered through his body and his eyes widened with what he saw…_

_The icicles._

_Memories of several individuals in different places._

_Their interactions with each other, their interactions with their environment…_

_George had no idea… but it looked…_

_Green._

_Every memory from what he could see, everyone was on something green… and if not, they had these… weird plants coming from the green and the show. One looked like wood, but it was standing up and had weird greenery around it._

_‘Is this what Mother meant?’_

_George extended his hands towards the ice, his eyes hypnotized on the ice as he watched the memories flash by like it was some cinematic…_

_His hand slowly edged towards the shiny, cold, solid ice, his fingertips extending._

_“G… George.”_

_A faint voice, but recognizable. It coughed behind him, and suddenly George felt a little lighter._

_George turned to see Dream slowly stirring around on the ground. He tried to use his left side to get up, but unfortunately, his left arm was limp and useless like a strand of leftover grain from the basement’s storage when it was time to prepare food for the family._

_But then again, that leftover strand of grain was important._

_“Dream!” He ran over to his brother, immediately forgetting about the icicles and the memories that were laid out in the sheen of the once liquid now turned-into-solid. He gripped onto the right side of his brother, remembering his little cheek with the injury when he touched his left side. It was burning a little, he had no idea why. He turned over Dream, and the dirty blonde haired boy had one dim and dull emerald green eye open slightly. It was enough to make George notice up close, but if he was far from him, he wouldn’t notice at all._

_“George… I feel so hot…” Dream whimpered, “what’s happening to me?”_

_George had no idea why Dream felt hot. He touched his forehead with the palm of his hand and the back of his hand, he seemed fine, “I-I don’t know what’s happening to you, but hold on, Dream, help is on its way!”_

_“Help?” Dream whispered faintly, “Why do we need help? What happened? Did Sapnap climb up on a piece of furniture and now he can’t get down again?”_

_George frowned._

_‘Does Dream not remember?’_

_George shook his head, no, he had to remember. He probably blacked-out, sure, but once he jogged his memory he probably will be fine again._

_The brunette shook his head to the dirty blonde, “No, all of a sudden you started racing towards the back end of the Athenaeum and--”_

_“The Athenaeum? Why are we here? I thought Mother forbid us to go here,” Dream explained through a hushed voice, then he doubled over in George’s lap, “George, I’m so hot… please what is happening…?”_

_He really had no idea._

_It’s like his memories were wiped…_

_When he touched that ice…_

_The brunette looked over to the ice, the glitter, the sheen, and the memories were gone. It was just dull, and in the darkness it didn’t look much better. It looked like the legs of a creature he had only heard of in the stories their Mother used to tell them. He didn’t remember what they were called, but he dare not try to or something else bad might happen._

_He quickly looked away from the icicles and focused on Dream, who was sloppily moving about in his lap and flailing his limp arm around. He whimpered and breathed heavily, George could see the fog from his mouth. It slowly diminished to a small puff instead of a long, prolonged, huff of air… like a dragon breathing out his fire breath like in the fairy tales Mother told. Even George knew they didn’t exist._

_“Dream!”_

_George turned around to see Sapnap and his Mother, his Mother was dressed in her nightgown, green and white. Sapnap was behind her, a guilty look on his face. He looked at George and mouthed a few words that George could recognize, ‘Is he okay?’_

_George shook his head as a response, but he was shoved away as their Mother pried George off of Dream and took him in her arms instead. She clutched onto him tightly, looked at the two boys-- with George on the ground after being shoved and Sapnap helping him up-- and began to run out of the Athenaeum._

_The two boys followed after her, forgetting about the lit candle on the floor._

_\---_

_After Mother had run out of the Athenaeum with Dream limp in her arms, she began to call out for anyone who would hear her call. Her voice shrieked in fear and anguish, the voice of a mother who didn’t want to lose their own child. All of the Knights and the Nurses came to her aid, rushing the both of them to the Infirmary and leaving the two boys in the hallway. One of the Nurses found George trying to touch his cheek, with Sapnap trying to touch it as well but having his hand slapped by George every time he tried to console him. She brought the other two boys with her in a smaller Infirmary, just so they wouldn’t be bothered by the frantic panicking in the main Infirmary._

_The Nurse had dark, brunette hair with pale blue eyes and porcelain skin. She had a dark crimson dress with a white apron tied around the mid center, she had a white piece of cloth covering her hair and the leftover pieces of cloth hung down like pigtails. She didn’t say her name as she guided the two boys into a smaller Infirmary, instead of it being on the left, it was on the right._

_The smaller Infirmary-- in which the Nurse called it an Apothecary instead-- was a small room bathed in an earthy, warm light. Small shelves filled to the brim with glass bottles of variant sizes and shapes stood at the front of the room, some of the glass bottles had rubber stops in them, while the others didn’t. Inside of the bottles, different greenery and liquids inhabited the insides of the bottles. George and Sapnap didn’t know what filled the bottles, but they were curious nonetheless of what thing was contained in what bottle._

_“C’mere, little one.” The Nurse spoke, she had a soft voice and it was sort of melodic, like a Siren luring a sailor off of their ship and into the rocky seas below. George hesitantly stepped forward in front of the Nurse, while Sapnap walked over with ease and stood beside the Nurse. George felt his cheek become more and more hot as he stepped forward to the Nurse, and it somewhat itched, but he knew that if he touched more of it, he may end up like Dream._

_“Sit down in front.” She instructed, pulling up a small stool and patting the seat lightly. George sat down and looked at the Nurse, in which she slowly touched the side of his right cheek, not directly on the wound, but around it. She inspected the wound before she stood up and walked over to one of the shelves. Beside George and Sapnap was a large desk filled to the brim with medicinal facts and instructions on parchment paper. It also showed all of the greenery that was stored in the area, especially all of the liquids and how to make them. He looked over every single paper, somewhat intrigued that this Nurse obtained such things._

_It seemed as if George was in some trance of interest, because the Nurse had come back-- but to the side of him-- applied an herb on his cheek with a soft cloth, and pressed a bandage on his cheek to make sure the herb stays intact onto the cheek. The brunette boy snapped back up after she had said, “All done.” and looked back at the papers._

_“Can Dream be healed with any of this?” He pointed at the papers._

_“Yes and no. Yes, he can be healed with this kind of medicine, but unfortunately he has to have a higher dosage since the frostbite covered more area than what you have.” The Nurse explained._

_“How did he even get that kind of serious frostbite?” Sapnap asked. The Nurse shook her head._

_“That, I don’t know. I wasn’t there to see the full detail. Then again, the Athenaeum is an extremely cold place, since it has so much room for the cold to spread, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he had caught it there. Much less with you.” She muttered. Though, George shook his head and frowned._

_“It was the icicles.” He pointed out._

_“Hm? The icicles?” The Nurse questioned._

_“Yeah… Sapnap, didn’t you see the icicles before you ran out to get Mom?” George questioned._

_Sapnap nodded, “A little, yeah. I saw the sheen of it, but I was more worried about Dream than anything else.”_

_“Tell me,” the Nurse leaned forward a little face George a bit more one-on-one, though, Sapnap indignantly shoved his way in on the conversation, “what did these icicles look like?”_

_“They were huge… tall.” George explained._

_“They looked like the legs of Enderman, but thicker!” Sapnap added._

_‘Ah,’ thought George, ‘so he remembers those weird creatures' names.’_

_“They had this bright sheen to them, and I thought I saw it light up and glitter, but then again it could’ve been me seeing things.” Sapnap muttered, in which George perked up._

_“No, Sapnap, that happened! It happened to me too! It glittered and gave off a light. I heard voices!” George exclaimed._

_“Voices?” Sapnap frowned in worry, “Are you sure you didn’t bonk your head on anything like a book or the ice you slipped on trying to catch up to Dream?”_

_“No! I-I heard the voices! The icicles also showed me weird pictures… it looked like memories of some sort and they all flashed in random ways at random intervals. It felt like I was in a trance.” George murmured._

_“It's probably because you were.” The Nurse answered._

_The two brothers looked at each other, then back at the Nurse in confusion, “What do you mean by that?” The two asked in unison._

_The Nurse was about to explain something to them, opening her mouth to begin, until the door opened with a slam and the three stood there as the figure in the entrance of the door stepped forward. It was their Mother. The Nurse immediately shot up and bowed herself to the Queen, meanwhile Sapnap and George ran over._

_Their Mother opened her arms wide for a hug, and the two jumped into her arms, the embrace bittersweet. She pushed them back after a few moments and looked at the two of them, mostly George, since she had noticed the bandage on his cheek, “Are you okay?” She asked, touching it with her own hand._

_George nodded, “Yeah, I’m okay. I guess my cheek touched Dream’s face and then I had frostbite too.”_

_Their Mother’s eyes widened in shock and fear, and immediately George tried to console her,” B-but it’s not too bad! It’s just one area rather than two!”_

_She sighed in relief, her head had bowed down and the long, brunette hair she had on her head fell in front of her face._

_Silence._

_._  
_.._  
_…_

_“Is Dream okay?”_

_Silence again._

_._  
_.._  
_…_

_“Yes… but he needs rest, and so do you two… you’re both grounded from ever entering the Athenaeum, and when Dream wakes up, tell him he’s grounded as well.”_

_“But Mom--”_

_“I don’t want to hear it. Go.”_

_The two resentfully headed out of the Apothecary and towards their rooms on the right side of the castle. George hesitated and looked towards the exit of the right staircase, but Sapnap gripped on his shoulder, shook his head, and directed his brother to their shared room._

…

“George do you remember where it’s exactly at?” Dream asked. He was next to George as Sapnap took the lead with the candle and traversed around the Athenaeum. The brunette nodded his head.

“We should be coming up on it shortly, it’s just a few meters ahead.” He explained.

“A few meters? It feels like we’ve been here for hours!” Sapnap complained.

“Well, we haven’t been here since Mother forbid us to ever enter here. I don’t know why, but I just listened to what she said.” Dream spoke.

George blinked and looked away from the dirty blonde, avoiding his gaze. George remembered that Dream’s recent memories had been completely wiped ever since he touched the icicles when he was a kid. He remembered everything else, except for when he stepped into the Athenaeum, all he remembers is him stepping in, blacking out, and then being in the Infirmary with George and Sapnap sitting beside him from his bed.

…

_It felt like it had been a while since the three stepped into the Athenaeum, with Dream touching the icicles and becoming immediately frostbitten, only to be taken to the Infirmary and having to stay in there due to him being unconscious. George and Sapnap, as they were unavailable to enter the Infirmary due to their Mother forbidding it as well while Dream was resting up, visited the Nurse that had so graciously taken them into her Apothecary and healed George’s wound from Dream’s frostbite._

_The two shared afternoons and evenings with the Nurse, with George reading the loose leaf parchments of paper on the desks and talking with the Nurse about medicinal herbs and how to use them for what situation. Sapnap had just wanted company other than George and sometimes talked to the Nurse about their conversations, either popping in a question or a statement while looking at the bottles that inhabited a herb or a liquid. George seemed infatuated with the thought of helping people through healing, Sapnap seemed to be interested, but not as interested as George. Both Dream and Sapnap had an interest in fighting, defending, and gathering resources for the kingdom and its people, even though George helped the two, he didn’t have much experience of interest in that kind of stuff except for gathering resources._

_One afternoon, their Mother had arrived in the entrance, similar to that very same day when Dream was rushed to the Infirmary. The Nurse bowed down once again, but their Mother signaled her to relax. The Nurse reluctantly did so, and the two boys’ mother looked down at the two before she uttered such words._

_“You’re not allowed to see Dream anymore. You cannot look at him, talk to him, or even think about him. Do you understand me?”_

_“Why? What happened, Mom?”_

_“Do you understand me?” Her voice became sharp and threatening._

_The two, not knowing what was happening, but not wanting to go against their Mother’s wishes, looked at each other for a moment’s glance and then nodded solemnly._

_“Good. Two Knights will be monitoring your every move, so if you even try to approach Dream, they will intervene and move you somewhere else. Do I make myself clear?”_

_“Yes Mom.”_

_“Yes, Mother.”_

_“Good. This is for your own good, you two.”_

_Sapnap’s head then moved upwards, “Wait… if we can’t see or move towards Dream, then where are we supposed to sleep?”_

_“You can sleep in the living room on the couch.”_

_The honey-toned boy nodded and looked down. George could see out of the corner of his heterochromatic eyes that Sapnap’s fists were clenched and shaking. George could feel his pain as well, he didn’t know why they couldn’t see Dream anymore, especially since they were all brothers and three-peas-in-a-pod. Though, if they went against their Mother’s wishes…_

_George felt goosebumps shoot up his entire body and he shuddered because of it._

_He didn’t want to think about this._

_Their Mother snapped her fingers, in which two people clad in iron armor stepped into view of the three and brandished their shields and swords. They entered the Apothecary and stood on the sides where the shelves stood, they were cautious of mishandling the fragile bottles on the shelves and they saluted George and Sapnap as the two boys glanced at each other again with misery and confusion mixed into both of their eyes. Their Mother, as soon as the Knights had adjusted themselves to stand in a stoic position in a small and closeted room for hours, walked to the left side-- in George’s and Sapnap’s view-- and disappeared._

_The two continued to stay in the Apothecary until it was their bedtime._

_\---_

_Dream stared up at the stone ceiling with a narrowed eye. His emerald green eye had no sheen or sparkle to it, but he did blink once to show he was alive. He inhaled to get a catch of cold air to clean his lungs, but he winced in pain as the left side of his body disliked the sudden movement. He exhaled sharply and continued to stare at the ceiling with only one eye capable of looking._

_He had no idea what had happened… all he remembered was darkness and then he suddenly appeared in the Infirmary with the inability to see out of his left eye and the feeling of the left side of his face and his arm completely numb and unable to move. He had no idea how long he was out for, and he had no intention to know. He just wanted to see George and Sapnap again…_

_The sound of a door opening and closing caused Dream to try and look over to the side, but his eye strained to see who it was. As the unknown person moved towards the front of the bed, he noticed it was his Mom. He relaxed a little, until she spoke of words that even Dream thought was incomprehensible:_

_“You’re to be staying in your room, away from George and Sapnap due to this sudden incident, until I can come up with something to hide your…_ mistake.” 

_Dream tried to open his mouth to speak against his Mother’s wishes, but all that came out was a croaky cry of confusion. His Mother looked down at him for a moment and then looked away with a disgusted and angered face._

_“If you had stayed away from the Athenaeum, this would’ve never happened to you. And yet, it did…”_

_The Athenaeum? He was in there?_

_“Mo--”_

_“I don’t want to hear it. As soon as you’re fully healed, you’re heading straight into your room and never showing your face or your… body to anyone again.”_

_She stalked out of the Infirmary and slammed the door after she had left, the echo caused Dream to flinch a little, and in the shock and confusion, he stared back up at the stone ceiling._

_‘My… mistake?’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I've been kinda dead because I've been playing DND with my buds and I was modding my friends stream as they got a Captain Puffy raid lmao  
> They're so supportive and appreciative I can't--  
> But yeah! I'll be possibly posting another chapter tomorrow (as I'll probably start on the chapter tonight as you're all reading this) so you guys get a double whammy of confusion and pain :))


	6. And Entries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This contains Ableism.
> 
> If you are uncomfortable with this topic, then you don't have to read this. Mental health is important. :))

_Dream was forced into his room after he had been fully healed from his frostbitten self. Unfortunately, he realized what his “mistake” his Mother meant was:_

_His left arm was out of commission, and so was the left side of his face._

_Due to the frostbite that permeated his entire arm and face, it singed his skin to make it permanently be a reddish skin color compared to his own normal light, creamy tone. He could barely see out of the left side of his face and he could barely even move his arm, much less try and twitch his fingers to see if they moved. To no avail did it seem like his arm would be moving any time soon._

_After the dirty blonde boy was forced into his room, the door was locked from the outside due to his Mother shoving him in and slamming the door quickly so he wouldn’t try and run out to escape, but Dream had already accepted his fate that he was meant to stay in here for as long as his Mother could find out a solution to this. He personally had no idea what his Mother was going to do to him except for keeping him in this room, but it was a mixture of fear, pain, and confusion that riddled his mind._

_Fear because he had no idea that he ended up like this after supposedly going to the Athenaeum, confusion because why would he exactly go in there especially with Sapnap and George. Pain because now he… exactly couldn’t see them anymore because of this._

_He sat down on the stone cold floor, huddled in a small ball. He hugged his legs to his chest, rested his head on his right knee, and wrapped his only good arm around his legs while the other laid on the ground, palm facing upwards. He inhaled deeply, and then exhaled._

_In the darkness of his room, he stared at the door which was his escape to light. Until he dozed off to sleep._

_\---_

_Dream stayed in that room for as long as he could remember._

_Days, weeks, months?_

_He had no sense of time._

_Every single, living moment that he spent in that room was either him waking up from his sleep believing it was day or early dawn or being woken up by one of the Knights for supper due to the lack of food that was already available to his leisure._

_Many of the Knights that went into the room saw Dream in all of his glory, but the boy couldn’t see their expressions due to the helmets covering their faces._

_Though, he could feel the aura that changed when he was around their presence._

_It was a mixture of disgust, fear, and disappointment._

_Something his Mother had when she saw him._

_All because he couldn’t use his left arm and the left side of his face perfectly-- or rather correctly-- anymore._

_He hated it._

_He hated feeling like he was some useless person who couldn’t do anything._

_Most of his body was fine, but the entire castle staff saw it as otherwise._

_They saw it as some curse._

_A curse that could never be lifted. Not even by the strongest witch or wizard in the land could break the curse._

_He was just… stuck like this._

_\---_

_The sound of something wooden landed on the ground, and Dream felt something graze on his leg._

_He looked up to see something white with a brown strap glued to it._

_Dream looked at the white thing that laid in front of him and picked it up with his right hand._

_He looked on the inside to see that there was nothing on the inside, he then flipped it over._

_Black paint._

_Two dots._

_A smile._

_“It’s for your face.”_

_Dream looked up to see his Mother standing in front of the door entrance through the stinging light. Two Knights were standing to the sides of her, as Dream could see the iron shoulder plates that stuck out like sore thumbs. He frowned, a little confused, though he seemed more irritated than anything._

_“Put it on your face.”_

_“This doesn’t have anything for me to look out of… I can still see with one eye.” Dream reasoned as he pointed at the inside of the mask seeing no carvings for his mouth or his eyes on where the paint was landed, though his Mother didn’t respond._

_“Put it on your face.” ___

_Dream switched motives, “What about my arm? You said you would fix everything that was wrong with me to you.”_

_“This is only step one of my mission. Put. The. Mask. On.”_

_Dream felt his heart thud out of his chest, but his face still stayed slate cold. He looked at the mask, turning it around to see the smiley face again. He then shifted his body around so that his back would be to the two Knights and his Mother, and his face to the wall. He sighed, gripped onto the strap-- leather-- and placed it on the back of his head. He then placed the white, wooden, oval mask over his face and readjusted it so it covered all of his face._

_Just to make his Mother happy._

_He turned around blindly as it was dark and he couldn’t see a thing._

_“Does this look good?”_

_“Yes! Perfect! Now, you just need to get used to it then you won’t have to see out of that other eye anymore!”_

_“What good would that do? That would just lessen my functioning eye into a blind one.”_

_“That’s the point! Since you’re blind in your left eye, what would be better than having your right eye be nonfunctional as well?”_

_Dream could not believe what she was saying._

_Was she hysterical?_

_He angrily furrowed his eyebrows in his mask. Well… this mask had some perks._

_“What about my arm?”_

_He needed to go along with this to make it seem that he’s enjoying this._

_Even though he’d rather run away from it all and just live a normal life with the way his body is now._

_With George and Sapnap._

_“We’ll figure it out eventually, for now, continue staying here until we make something for your other complication.”_

…

Dream looked down at his left hand, it was covered in a black cloth, fingertips and all. He clenched it as tight as he could and he could see his fingers move into a balled up fist. Though, he didn’t feel much of his nerves in his hand or his arm as much as he had wished for. After he was given the mask, he had to adjust to the life of having his face be hidden in the castle and the commoners due to his Mother demanding he be like this for the sake of her image.

After he had adjusted to the mask, he was given this black cloth for his arm to “protect” the singing of his skin from anything else. It didn’t exactly do wonders, as it didn’t help him move his arm around. He more so had to flop it around his body like a woven sack of useless feathers plucked from chickens. He couldn’t do most stuff with his left arm, and so his right arm had to do all of the work. He was released from his room and sent back out into the castle grounds where he finally reunited with George and Sapnap; however, they seemed a little skeptical about the mask and the black cloth, but they left it be since they were too happy and relieved to be reunited.

…

_“That reminds us… Mom said that you’re grounded from ever entering the Athenaeum.”_

_“Why? Did we do something stupid in there?”_

_The two looked at each other in confusion._

_“We… were looking for the book that Mother had.” George whispered._

_“Oh yeah! Wait, it's in the Athenaeum?” ___

_Silence._

_“No, it’s not.”_

_“Oh… well we just have to keep looking!”_

…

They never did look for that book, until now.

“We’re here.”

Dream stopped beside George and Sapnap in front of the place where Dream's life had changed unknowingly to him. Sapnap raised the candle higher for the group to see the icicles that hung from the very top of the ceiling. The candle’s flame caused the icicles to have a gleam to them as they stood perfectly still in their uncomfortable and overwhelming glory. Dream stepped forward a little to inspect the icicles, but George instinctively pushed him back.

“What? What’s wrong?” Dream asked as he turned to the brunette with the glasses. George realized what he did and coughed awkwardly.

“Nothing. Go on.” He responded and folded his arms over his chest. Dream looked at him for a few moments, before he shrugged it off and stepped forward towards the icicles until his face was inches apart from it.

He lifted his left hand unknowingly towards the ice, but he hesitated and looked at his hand and arm covered by the black cloth. He put it back down to his side.

Then all of a sudden, blue light began to glow.

Dream stepped back, startled, and George made a questionable noise out of his mouth as the icicles began to glow a blue color. The blue, illuminating light engulfed the candle light, causing Sapnap to let go of the candle holder. The candle dropped to the ground, the flame diminished and the blue light began to spread across the entire Athenaeum, shrouding the bookshelves, the books, the floor, and the ceiling in its light. 

“What the hell is happening?!” Sapnap exclaimed, his round ears folding back to his cranium. 

**_‘Who dares bother me?’_** A voice boomed and echoed throughout the Athenaeum. It was a mixture of different voices, though a female’s voice was more dominant than the rest.

Dream was a little speechless, but he snapped out of his surprise and cleared his throat, “Uh-- Dream, George, and Sapnap. We’re the Princes of the Kheredian Kingdom, you’re-- uh-- obviously in the Kheredian Kingdom castle.” He explained awkwardly.

 ** _‘The Kheredian Kingdom?’_** The mixed voice spoke, then they did a gasp of realization, **_‘Oh! You’re King--’_**

“Yes, we are,” Dream interrupted the voice, “But, we have no idea why _you’re_ here.”

**_‘I was cursed to stay in this castle for centuries due to your many-of-great grandfather sealing me away with some artifact he used on me. He asked me what certain people’s weaknesses were, what neighboring country he could alliance with… political problems. It was until recently I found that your father never used me for anything, he just simply left me be, promising to find a way to break me out of this curse. You obviously know how that went.’/em >_ ** _The voice grumbled at the last sentence, Dream sighed softly to himself and lowered his head. George placed his hand on the masked man and looked back up at the ceiling._

__

“Who are you?” He asked.

__

**_‘I am someone of many, but I do not know who I exactly am. My mind is fuzzy and convoluted, all I remember is being cursed and stuck here for centuries, but anything before that is gone.’_** They explained.

__

“So, how are we supposed to help you then exactly?” Sapnap inquired. George and Dream looked over to the dark haired man, George hissing his name, but they were too late.

__

**_‘You will? You’ll help me?’_** They asked, excitement lacing in with their voices. Sapnap looked to Dream and George, the two immediately shaking their heads vigorously and using all kinds of signs to stop him from saying yes. Though, Sapnap frowned and looked back up at the ceiling.

__

“Yes, we will help you.” Sapnap spoke indignantly. George slumped his entire body from his lower torso to make himself look like a ragdoll and drew out a long sigh, and Dream snaked his right hand into his mask and rubbed his temples in aggravation.

__

**_‘Oh thank you, thank you dearest… uhh…”_ **

__

“You can call me Sapnap.” Sapnap did a pose where he placed one of his hands on his hip bone, and his other hand rested on his chin with his thumb and pointer finger out to have a dip where the chin would set. He winked at the ceiling even though he couldn’t exactly see the thing anywhere. The voice merely giggled like a school girl in love. George looked at Dream with the most unamused and “oh brother” glance, and through the mask Dream had the same emotion.

__

_‘Sapnap: The charmer.’_ They both thought.

__

“However,” Sapnap spoke as he put his hands to his sides, “you have to return the favor. And I’d like to use it now please.” The two brothers looked back, George having a confused glance meanwhile Dream… just had that smiley mask on so it looked like he was fine with this.

__

**_'Whatever you ask for, I will try and give it to you,'_** the voice spoke, **_'What do you want?'_**

“We want the Antarctic Empire Journal. Our Mother, the Queen, had stashed something in those bookshelves a long time ago when we were kids,” Sapnap threw his thumb back to the icicles that still shined with blue light, “we wanted to know what it was, unfortunately the icicles have blocked that section of the place where the journal was stashed. When we were kids, we tried to fetch it back, but Dream had an incident due to this and we were forever banished to this place until now by our Mother.”

Silence merely caused the atmosphere to turn cold.

“Hello? You said you would try and give it to me. So, where is it?” Sapnap demanded.

 ** _‘Your Mother summoned me that night to ward you boys away from that place. I had never expected of you, Dream, to touch it. I panicked.’_** The voice spoke.

“Wait, so you were the one that caused this injury?” Dream asked, stepping forward.

**_‘I was, yes. But I didn’t mean it to get that severe to where you can’t even show yourself completely, I apologize. But,’ the voice sighed, ‘if your Mother speaks that you three are ready, then I just have to give in.’_ **

Tremors began to shake through the ground underneath the three, but they had kept their balance otherwise. Then, all of a sudden, the sound of glass breaking-- but with a more dull tone-- rung through their ears. The three looked back to see that the tremors had caused some of the less thicker and larger icicles to fall and hit the ground, but the larger icicles began to wobble from their place.

The tremor began to grow aggressive, and the large icicles began to shake even more. The three quickly split up from each other and hid behind the bookshelves for cover. The sound of the ice breaking, with bits and pieces flying in front of them, made an irritating sound in which Sapnap covered his round ears and his normal ones the best he could.

Then, the sound ceased and the flying pieces of ice had shuttered to a stop.

The three peaked out from behind the bookshelves to see that the large icicles-- now in pieces-- covered the floor in front of them. Though, they were most interested in the bookshelf, which now had full access to it. The bookshelf itself was a grey-ish blue compared to the earthly brown of the others with dust collecting on the books as they were also a grey-ish blue… some were also white and purple.

Sapnap made the first move, running over to the bookshelf and searching for the Journal that his Mother had stashed away and kept in for so long. George and Dream looked for a moment before Dream walked over to Sapnap to help him, George staring at them for a minute before joining them as well.

The three continued to search for the books, their hands grazing on the covers of the books and looking through every book to find it. After the 15th book, Sapnap had found it, exclaiming his prize and motioning for the other two to come huddle, in which they did. Sapnap opened the Journal, though it wasn’t at the right page that his mother had spoken to. It was on a rather empty page, though it had 5 names on them with their positions.

**_Antarctic Empire_ **

**Faction Members:**  
**Pete**  
**Wisp**  
**Calvin**

 **Co-Leader:**  
**Phil**

 **Leader:**  
**Technoblade**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY IM SORRY I LIED IT WASN'T YESTERDAY. I HAD A WRITERS BLOCK LIKE 1200 WORDS IN AND I COULDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING SO I JUST LEFT IT--
> 
> Also Google Docs just loves to call Sapnap 'Subpoena'.  
> I don't even know who the fuck that is but Google Docs just loves that name.


	7. Littol Author's Note

Hi everyone! Happy Holidays!

Sorry that I haven't been updating this story a lot, I've been a little unmotivated because I haven't watched all of Techno's/Phil's DSMP streams, it's Christmas and I'm giving a friend a Christmas present (more like 3 but it's gonna be combined so OH BABY A TRIPLE), and I haven't watched all of Techno's Earth SMP to continue on the story, even though I could read the Wiki (and I probably will-) I feel like watching it is like... the primary evidence to a biography.

If I'm not making sense, then that's because I'm watching Phil's stream and doing two things at once sometimes overwhelms me but I STILL DO IT ANYWAY AYYY-

But, again, sorry for being MIA. Hope ya'll enjoy your holidays!!

-Ender

P.S. I feel like doing an Author's Q&A, maybe? Whomst knows :)


	8. Are Unfolded

Silence hung over the air for a few seconds as the trio looked at the page that had the listed names.

“For something so small, to go all the way for us to go into the Athenaeum when we were kids, Dream having his left arm frostbitten, training Dream to use his left arm somewhat malleable to move in which it took literal years, having our Mother be on her deathbed-- that or she’s already dead-- and coming back here… I expected more than a list of 5 names.” George sneered.

Dream hummed in agreement.. this _was_ a bit disappointing to look at.

‘ ** _The Antarctic Empire and its inhabitants are not to be taken so lightly… even if their membership is extremely small._** ’ The voice countered.

“So, what makes them so special or something of high regard?” Dream asked, inquiry but also confusion laced with his voice.

‘ ** _Well-- profile wise-- the Antarctic Empire is-- was-- a militaristic, duo-dictatorship with a lust for taking over the world by any means necessary… so essentially… an expansionist empire as well. It was quite surprising that they did manage to take over the world… only for a few minutes though._** ’ The voice murmured.

“Militaristic?” George questioned.

“Expansionist?” Sapnap added.

“When exactly did this Empire come into power?” Dream asked, a little condescending tilt of his head toward the ceiling.

‘ ** _Since they claimed the Antarctic Stronghold as their home. Many people wanted the Antarctic Stronghold as their own because it held a special portal, and since Technoblade claimed it as his home-- bringing Philza and Pete and the rest of his members-- many people were in shock and jealousy._** ’ The voice explained, ‘ ** _Even the Admins were surprised that this power-hungry pig took it without stocking up on supplies._** ’

“Woah woah woah woah woah,” Sapnap interfered, he placed two fingers on the bridge of his nose in painful confusion. His face even scrunched up, “So let me get this straight… One, Technoblade is a pig?! Like… pigs that are taken to the slaughter? Two, Antarctic Stronghold? What’s that, and what was the special portal for? Three, what are ‘The Admins?’” He spat questions out left and right while the two looked up at the ceiling for answers.

Dream could agree, there were many things that the voice pointed out, yet the three didn’t know anything about it.

The voice hesitated, ‘ ** _It seems your sheltering of the truth was but a mere hindrance of your knowledge of the outside world far from your home._** ’

“Are you calling us dumb?!” Sapnap hissed, pointing a finger indignantly at the ceiling.

‘ ** _Not dumb, per say, just ignorant,_** ’ the voice corrected, ‘ ** _but I will tell you everything I know so you can understand your current situation. I’m merely going to ignore the first question that you mentioned… of Technoblade being a pig. You can wonder to yourself that question, for I do not have a straight answer to it._** ’

‘ ** _The Admins are Celestial beings that are connected to worlds from the moment they are created. They watch, and sometimes intervene but at their own cost, their worlds and the people inhabiting it. Their interference can either be good or bad, but, like I said, it’s at their own cost. Interferences can cause a shift of imbalance among the inhabitants and the Admins themselves, whether it be praise or consequence. This is a result of that._** ’

‘ ** _An unknown Admin, who was attached to this world, interfered with this world-- people and all-- one too many times in their life to make their world as perfect as it could be. Though, the most interference they had was with the Antarctic Empire when the militaristic, expansionist domain had tried to take over the world and succeeded. The last thing they did was curse the members, the co-leader, and the leader of the Antarctic Empire and the people living with them on the very same world to have their hearts frozen… as they are slowly consumed by the ice and the snow._** ’

‘ ** _In their newfound corruption, many Admins from their own worlds saw this own Admin’s downfall. As a result, they subjugated them to their own consequence. They died in the ice and snow… and you are all still living under this Admin’s consequence._** ’

“So, the ice and snow… the constant blizzards that plague the snow-blanket plains, the cold nights that could cause extreme frostbite even to those living inside of a house or hypothermia in mere seconds… this is all just… some curse?” George questioned, an edge to his voice.

‘ ** _Unfortunately, yes, and it has grown worse by the centuries that pass. Slowly, but surely, it has grown worse. If this curse continues, then this world may damage itself and cause itself to be a non-habitable planet._** ’ The voice murmured.

Dream blinked, the rushing thought of a memory once pushed deep into the recesses of his mind only to be reopened once more.

_“Centuries… in fact.”_

“This isn’t some urban legend,” Dream breathed as he looked towards Sapnap and George, “this is real.”

The realization in the two’s eyes sparkled, before their heads snapped to look at each other, then back to Dream.

‘ ** _An urban legend? Well, in some instances, I_** guess ** _you could believe the Admins are an urban legend; however, this is no urban legend. I’m only believing that your mother told you this when you were children to mask the truth… either that or to make you not scared that you were all going to die._** ’

“How do we lift this curse?!” Dream’s head snapped to the ceiling, his voice agitated as it reverberated against the walls of the Athenaeum.

‘ ** _... If you really think I’m the all-knowing mind to help you with your expedition, you’re forgetting your own deal with me as you have already used your own to understand the full picture. Not to mention, the Admin that put this curse on this land was born millions of years ago, I do not have that kind of knowledge to know how to lift the curse. Hell, I barely own my own name and my own memories before I was stuck in here!_** ’

“You don’t have to worry about us forgetting your favor,” Sapnap interjected, “but has there been any attempts or experiments to lift the curse?”

The voice hesitated, ‘ ** _There has been one, by the Antarctic Empire…_** ’

“Of course everything leads back to them…” George muttered in aggravation and folded his arms across his chest.

‘ ** _Well of course everything leads back to them, they’re not a faction to be messed around with. Especially with members of such a high stature and famosity,_** ’ the voice snipped in, ‘ ** _also because they were the last faction to ever be disbanded or lost to the ice and snow when the curse had begun to take its toll on the neighboring factions. They had the most resources and the most time to try and figure out a solution compared to the rest… or so I think…_** ’

“Where exactly is the Antarctic Stronghold? You never mentioned it when I asked the question.” Sapnap questioned.

Dream looked at Sapnap with confusion, before it settled into his mind and his eyes widened from behind his mask, “Sapnap--”

“Dream,” Sapnap interrupted, “this planet-- along with us possibly-- will die eventually if we can’t find this Stronghold. This could be the key to ridding this place of the snow and the ice, and the cold that has plagued us for so long! Don’t you want that?” He asked, his face contorted into pain and his voice cracked a little.

“Yes, I do want that! But-- but what if this is a trap? What if this whole thing is a trap and a joke to lead us to our demise?” Dream countered.

“But what if it isn’t?” George interjected, cool and collected.

“How would you know that?!” Dream snapped as he whipped his head around to the brunette, “For all we know, we could die trying to find this Stronghold and then this planet and the people living on it can die anyway!”

‘ ** _I can assure you, I’m not leading you to any trap that could lead to your demise; however, the journey to the Antarctic Stronghold is treacherous that even your great grandfathers had several bodies laying in the snow and in the oceans travelling back and forth from home to there._** ’

“Then I’m not risking my life to experience that.” Dream hissed and stalked back towards the door to the Athenaeum.

A rough and calloused hand snatched onto his arm.

Dream stopped, though he didn’t turn around to face him.

“Dream, _listen_ to yourself right now! You’re being selfish!” Sapnap exclaimed.

“ _I’m_ being selfish?!” Dream slapped Sapnap’s hand off and snapped his whole body around to face him. He pressed a finger indignantly into his brother’s chest, “For your fucking information, our Mother just died! Leaving me to take charge of this entire kingdom because I am the oldest out of all of us! I have to be the one in charge, I have to be the responsible one! I realized when we were riding back on our horses from the Floating Slopes that, yes, I am selfish! I’m selfish for not taking care of those starving, innocent, and poor people living in our Kingdom, watching their family members and their neighbors die because we-- **_I_** \-- was out and about frolicking in the snow with you two!” He yelled.

“Why are you putting the blame on us?!” Sapnap pushed Dream forcefully, “You didn’t have to come with us, yet you did! And for what?!”

“I’m not putting the blame on you!” Dream screamed.

His voice echoed throughout the Athenaeum, silencing George and Sapnap… even the voice was quiet.

Dream scoffed.

“Just forget it. We’re not going. That’s my first decree to the both of you.”

“Dream--”

“I don’t want to fucking hear it.”

The sound of footsteps lingered around the columns and the rows of the Athenaeum, until a door was slammed shut, and all was silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *does a twirl and dies*
> 
> Good night ya'll, I'm tired.


End file.
